Hiking Wild Wales

Don't be fooled by the cozy pubs and low elevations. The birthplace of mountaineering overflows with challenges, from rugged peaks to history-laden coastal treks.

by Steve Howe

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Harlech Castle, built by Edward I in the 1400s.(Steve Howe)

In recent years, Wales has chiefly made news for its young princes, William and Harry. But a century ago, the world knew this craggy, storm-blasted edge of the British Isles for its celebrity climbers. It was here that George Mallory, Sir Edmund Hillary, and other Himalayan pioneers honed their skills. We traveled to Wales for our 2009 Editors’ Choice Awards testing and discovered that, between gear-mangling storms, it’s also a hiker’s paradise. Follow our adventure guide, and you’ll traverse knife-edge ridges, skirt shoreline cliffs, and walk through King Arthur’s ancient stomping ground. Then step off the trail and into a pub. Any route that follows in the footsteps of these mountaineers rightfully ends with a pint.

Sponsored: After looking at a map and seeing where you’re heading, it’s always amazing to see it appear up ahead of you in real life. Here’s our Editor-in-Chief hiking to two unnamed tarns near the headwaters of Lime Creek, about 3.5 miles west of Molas Pass on the Colorado Trail. Continued thanks to Mountain Hardwear for making the #ColoradoTrailFest come to life. #LiveBreatheHike #MountainHardwear Photo By Kennan Harvey